MTG6316/4930 General Topology 1

Exam 1

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Rules:

• No additional materials are allowed.

• Be very clear about what your final answer is.

• Answer exactly what the question is asking you to answer.

• Make sure you’ve done every problem.

• Show your work.

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1. Part (c) of this problem is on the next page.

(a) State the axiom of choice.

If A is a collection of nonempty and pairwise disjoint sets then there exists a set C consist-
ing of exactly 1 element from each set in A.
(b) Recall that, if ∼ is an equivalence relation on a set A and a ∈ A, the equivalence class of a is
defined as
[a] := {a′ | a ∼ a′ }.
Prove that if ∼ is an equivalence relation on a set A and a, b ∈ A have a ̸∼ b, then [a] ∩ [b] = ∅.

Proof. We prove the contrapositive. Suppose that [a] ∩ [b] ̸= ∅. Then there is c ∈ [a] ∩ [b].
Equivalently, a ∼ c and b ∼ c. By symmetry of ∼, c ∼ b. By transitivity of ∼, a ∼ b follows
subsequently.

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(c) Prove that if ∼ is an equivalence relation on a nonempty set A, then there exists a collection of A0 of
elements in A where
A = ∪a∈A0 [a].
[and the collection of sets in the union above is pairwise disjoint.] You may assume A is equal to the
union of all its equivalence classes.

Proof. Let E be the set of all of the equivalence classes of A. We have by assumption that A = ∪E∈E E.
Note that each set in E is nonempty and the sets in E are pairwise disjoint by (b). Applying the axiom
of choice, there exists a set A0 consisting of exactly 1 element from each set in E. Note that, if E is
an equivalence class, E = [a] for any a ∈ E. It follows that ∪a∈A0 [a] = ∪E∈E E = A. We have observed
previously that the collection of equivalence classes in the union are pairwise disjoint.

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2. Prove that the set of all irrational numbers in R is uncountable. You may assume R is uncountable
and use any basic results for proving that sets are countable we have discussed, i.e., for products,
intersections, unions, etc. Appropriate injections and surjections from/to countable sets other than
Z+ are also sufficient without further justification.

Proof. We first prove that Q is countable. Note that Q = Q− ∪ {0} ∪Q+ , and so is countable as a finite
union of countable sets if Q+ and Q− are countable. Observe that there is a bijection f : Q+ → Q−
defined by f (x) = −x, so it suffices to show that Q+ is countable. Recall that Z+ × Z+ is countable
as a finite product of countable sets. Consider g : Z+ × Z+ → Q+ given by g((p, q)) = p/q. Then g is
readily seen to be surjective. By a theorem, Q+ is therefore countable.

Suppose, to the contrary, that the set of all irrational numbers in R is countable. Note that R = I ∪ Q
where I is the set of irrationals. Since I is countable by assumption and Q is also countable, R is
countable as a finite union of countable sets. This contradicts our assumption that R is uncountable.
It follows that I is uncountable.

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3. (a) State the well-ordering property on Z+ .

Every nonempty subset of Z+ has a least element.

(b) Prove that every surjective function f : Z+ → A has a right inverse without appealing to the
axiom of choice.

Proof. Suppose that f : Z+ → A is surjective. Note that f −1 ({a}) is therefore nonempty for
any a ∈ A. By the well-ordering property, f −1 ({a}) has a smallest element for all a ∈ A.
Define g : A → Z+ by g(a) = smallest element of f −1 ({a}) for all a ∈ A. Then for any a ∈ A,
f (g(a)) = a since g(a) ∈ f −1 ({a}).

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4. Part (c) begins on the next page.

(a) Let A ⊆ X where X is a topological space. Define the interior of A.

Definition 1. The interior of A is the union of all open sets in X which are contained in A.
(b) With A and X as above, define what it means for x ∈ X to be a limit point of A.
Definition 2. A point x ∈ A is a limit point of A ⊆ X if every open neighborhood of x in X
intersects A at a point other than x.

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(c) Prove that if X is a space where no single point sets are open and A ⊆ X is nonempty, then
every point in int(A) is a limit point of A.

Proof. Let x ∈ int(A) and note int(A) is open since it is a union of open sets. For any open
neighborhood U of X, it follows that U ∩int(A) is an open neighborhood of x as finite intersections
of open sets are open. Furthermore, U ∩ int(A) is nonempty since it contains x. By assumption
U ∩ int(A) contains at least one other point y ̸= x, since single points sets are not open in X.
Since int(A) ⊆ A, we have that y ∈ A. Thus x is a limit point of A by definition.

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5. Let B ⊆ A ⊆ R. Describe a counterexample to the statement: The interior of B in the subspace

topology on A is equal to the interior of B in R. Indicate B and A for your counterexample, as well
as the two relevant interiors of B.

Almost any subset which is not open and not exceptionally exotic will suffice here. Make sure to
check easy examples first!
Take B = A = [0, 1). Then intR (B) = (0, 1) whereas intA (B) = [0, 1) because [0, 1) is open in the
subspace topology on [0, 1) inherited from R.

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6. Let X be a set. Prove that if S is a collection of subsets of X whose union equals X, then

B = {S1 ∩ · · · ∩ Sn | n ∈ Z+ and Si ∈ S for all i = 1, . . . , n}

is a basis on X.

Proof. We proceed by showing that B satisfies the two conditions required by the definition of a basis.
First, note that S ⊆ B by definition. By assumption, X = ∪S∈S S. We conclude that X ⊆ ∪B∈B B since
∪S∈S S ⊆ ∪B∈B B. The reverse inclusion is obvious since B ⊆ X for all B ∈ B. Thus X equals the union of
all sets in B.

Second, let x ∈ B1 ∩ B2 where B1 , B2 ∈ B. By definition, B1 = S1 ∩ · · · ∩ Sn and B2 = S1′ ∩ · · · ∩ Sm ′

′ ′ ′
for some Si , Sj ∈ S. Observe that B1 ∩ B2 = S1 ∩ · · · ∩ Sn ∩ S1 ∩ · · · ∩ Sm and so B1 ∩ B2 ∈ B by definition
of B. Thus x ∈ B1 ∩ B2 ⊆ B1 ∩ B2 and B1 ∩ B2 ∈ B.

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